In recent years there has been much concern in the window covering industry about child safety. There have been instances involving pleated shades and venetian type blinds in which a child's head and neck have become entangled in a cord loop that is used to raise and lower, or open and close, the blind and the child was strangled. Consequently, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has held hearings and proposed regulations that require looped cords in window covering products to be eliminated or require a device that breaks the loop in the event of entanglement or require a device that envelops or restrains the cord in such a way that a child could not become entangled in the loop.
One popular type of window covering is the roll-up shade. This shade has a panel of window covering material attached at its top edge to a headrail. Roll-up shades have looped cords in which the panel of window covering material is captured. Two or more looped cords extend from the headrail down one side of the panel of window covering material, around the bottom edge of the panel and up an opposite side of the panel of window covering material into the headrail. The cords may then pass through a cord lock in the headrail or wind around a cord collector within the headrail. Movement of the cords into the headrail will cause the panel of window covering material to roll-up and movement of the cords out of the headrail will cause the window covering material to unroll. Although there has never been a reported incident of a child becoming entangled in a roll-up shade, some have observed that the loops in a roll-up shade pose the same danger as cord loops that are used to raise and lower, or open and close, other types of blinds. Consequently, there has been an interest in developing a child safety device for roll-up shades which will prevent a child from becoming entangled in the cord loops that are used to raise and lower the shade material.
Hyman et al. a disclose breakaway cord connection apparatus for roll-up shades in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,248 and published U.S. patent application No. 2003/0150567 A1. Both references disclose a releasable cord connection apparatus in which the cord is attached to a V-shaped connective member. That connective member is inserted into a recess provided in a receptive member attached to the headrail. When a sufficient force is applied to the cord connected to a connective member, the top of the V-shaped body collapses, allowing the connective member to pass through the recess releasing the connective member and cord from the receptive member. The published application also discloses a breakaway apparatus in which a breakaway end portion on a cord can move along a recessed track and separate from the track when a downward force is applied to the cord. One problem with the breakaway systems disclosed by Hayman et al. is that the cords are always connected to the breakaway apparatus. It is not possible to easily remove the cords from the breakaway apparatus and reattach them to the headrail in a manner so that they will not breakaway. Another problem with this system is that the amount of force that is required to cause the cord to breakaway is determined by the manufacturer and cannot be changed by the user or the installer.
A number of other child safety devices have been proposed for window coverings and have been available in the marketplace. U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,983 to Sartini et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,462 to Eisenheimer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,092 to Georgopoulos and U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,298 to Langhart et al. disclose breakaway child safety tassels. These patents disclose various tassels to which two or more pull cords are attached. The attachment of multiple cords to a single tassel forms cord loops. The child safety tassels are constructed so that when a force acts on the loop, such as will occur when a child becomes entangled in the cords, the tassel breaks apart, separating the cords and breaking the cord loop or loops. The tassel disclosed by Langhart has been made and sold by Hunter Douglas and others in the industry. In tests of this tassel, some tassels subjected to a force did not break apart when they were supposed to do so. Others broke apart under very little force. Both situations are unacceptable and illustrate the difficulty in producing an effective child safety device for window covering products.
The child safety devices that have been proposed for use on window coverings are all designed to be difficult to remove by the end user. Many window coverings are installed in offices and other windows where small children are never present. Indeed, there are many homes in which there are no small children. Many consumers who purchase window coverings for these locations see no need to have child safety devices on the products that they purchase. Indeed, many such customers have asked that the child safety device not be installed in their product. But, manufacturers and installers are often reluctant to do this for fear of liability, either as a result of a child strangulation or for being in violation of a government regulation. Consequently, there is an unsatisfied demand for a child safety device for window coverings that can be removed or deactivated by the purchaser of the blind.